TopSpin 2K25 Preview
Assuming you’ve been waiting all these years for a new Tennis game, TopSpin 2K25 is looking like the one. 2K has brought a beloved franchise into the modern age, complete with all their usual bells and whistles. Does that include microtransactions, you’re asking? I don’t have that answer yet, but I have plenty more. In fact, my time with the preview build taught me tons about the sport in general.
You see, I’m more or less brand new to Tennis, holistically speaking. Unlike some of my fellow journalists in attendance, I knew exactly bupkiss going into this thing. Which is fine! TopSpin 2K25 has a whole Tennis Academy designed to correct this deficiency. John McEnroe is your guide through a series of lessons perfect for drilling the fundamentals deep into your brain stem. It’s all about aim and timing, at least in the beginning. This is expressed through a dizzy dance of stick inputs and button releases. I like the timing being dependent on when you let go of an input, it feels more patient, more precise.
Practice Makes Perfect
After learning a few key points, I moved on to some exhibition matches. Here my training came to fruition. Rather, it became apparent that I hadn’t trained enough at all. But that was always gonna be the case, especially given how short this preview session was. I just had to learn on the go, which it turns out I’m not great at! You see, perfectly timed shots are a big part of your early success. It’s critical that you figure out this mechanic before moving on. But doing so is harder than it seems, especially for a condensed gameplay session. I still managed to win a few games, however.
Notice how I said ‘games’ and not ‘matches.’ It turns out I choke up a bit in the last quarter. During training, McEnroe mentions fatigue several times. At this stage, I don’t know if this is a holdover from actual Tennis training, or a tangible in-game mechanic. Either way, my playing often got measurably worse in the later stages. I also experimented with a couple of different play surfaces. They definitely make a difference, though I’m not well-versed enough to go into much detail. Another variable is the shot syle you choose. These are measured to the four face buttons and it’s not immediately clear which is which. Maybe I didn’t get far enough into training to find out? Honestly, that should be lesson one. Two at the very latest.
Lot Of Shot Options
There’s a wide variety of players to choose from, which is nice. I even saw some legends so famous that I recognized them. The roster is an even mix of new talent and old favorites. Battling against these Tennis titans illustrates how deceptively complex this game is. You’ve gotta keep shot style, strength, and section in mind on every exchange. Aim and execution have to be perfect whenever possible as well. I tried out several difficulty settings, and you know what? It’s pretty satisfying to land even a single point against these guys on hard mode. It’s a real motivator to improve your technique.
All told, this was a brief look at TopSpin 2K25. That is, I’ve still got a lot of questions before the full game drops next month. I want to see the Career Mode, the character creator, and the rest of the game modes. Plus, everyone is waiting to see what the microtransactions are like. 2K has had a difficult relationship with those systems in the past. Will this game be more of the same, or are we in for a paradigm shift? Even so, what I’ve seen so far is pretty promising. Keep an eye on this spot for more complete coverage in the future.
